Manipulating lay-people’s mental models of pension policy shifts their
endorsement of the policy, even if the policy itself does not change at
all. Two randomized experiments on a fairly representative U.S. sample
framed pension policy using an Exchange (reciprocity) model, a Private
(responsibility) model, or a Communal (sharing) model. Combined, the
experiments show: (1) The perceived warmth, competence, and
deservingness of pension beneficiaries can mediate framing effects on
policy preference; (2) Mediation exists when policy “has a face” (i.e.,
stereotypical beneficiaries accompany the elaboration of the mental
model); and (3) Communal frames generally raise policy endorsement
notably via increased perceived warmth of beneficiaries, Exchange
frames dampen endorsement for people low in future-mindedness, and
Private frames raise endorsement indirectly (via increased perceived
deservingness) but dampen endorsement directly. The studies’
implications are both theoretical and policy-relevant; they document a
process of stereotype-mediated policy feedback and suggest how the
three frames shift the policy debate on pension reform in aging societies.
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